Sensory objects at the British Museum

The Sensory Objects project creates multisensory interactive artworks that respond to museum collections and generate alternative ideas for museum interpretation.

Energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis of a pre-Columbian funerary gold mask from the Museum of Sican, Peru

A funerary gold mask from the Museum of Sican, Ferranafe, Peru was analyzed in 30 different areas using a portable equipment using energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence. It was deduced from the measurements that the main sheet of the mask and the majority of the pendants have a similar composition and are made of tumbaga, which means a poor gold alloy enriched at the surface by depletion gilding, and have a similar `equivalent` gilding thickness of about 5 mu m. The nose, also on tumbaga, has different composition and a thickness of about 8 mu m. The clamps are on gilded or on silvered copper. The red pigment dispersed on the surface of the mask is cinnabar. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Museum Personalized : The impact of floor staff on an exhibition - A holistic approach

The current paper presents a study conducted at The National Museum of Science and Technology in Stockholm to investigate the exhibition “Antarctica – that’s cool” from its first concept to the first workshop that is held in the exhibition. The focus is on the influence of floor staff on an exhibition and workshops as learning facilities in museums. Findings, based on visitor observation and the exhibition building process, go into the characteristics of low-budget productions and discuss the importance of staff on the exhibition floor for museums as life-long learning facilities. The holistic approach of the study provides deep insights into the complex interplay of visitors, staff and exhibitions. The results can be used for future exhibition building processes and educational programs in museums and should strengthen the museum’s position as life-long learning facility in nowadays society.

An Evaluation of”Middle Ages Dead or Live?”The first interactive exhibition at the National Museum of History

This is a study conducted at, and for, the National Museum of History in Stockholm. The aim of the study was to confirm or disconfirm the hypothesis that visitors in a traditional museum environment might not take part in interactivity in an interactive exhibition. And if they do the visitors might skip the texts and objects on display. To answer this and other questions a multiple method was used. Both non participant observations and exit interviews were conducted. After a description of the interactive exhibits, theory of knowledge and learning is presented before the gathered data is presented. All together 443 visitors were observed. In the observations the visitors were timed on how much time they spent in the room, the time spent on the interactivity, texts and objects. In the 40 interviews information about visitors’ participation in the interactivity was gathered. What interactivity the visitor found easiest, hardest, funniest and most boring.The result did not confirm the hypothesis. All kinds of visitors, children and adults, participated in the interactivities. The visitors took part in the texts and objects and the interactive exhibits.

Profiling visitors to Dalarna Museum : What are the motivational factors that influence visitors' frequency of visits

Prior studies on museum visitors are extensively centred on national museums, the studies on regional museums are scarce. To fill in the academic gap, a research is proposed concerning the visitors of Dalarna Museum, a regional museum in Sweden. With an aim to profile visitors’ demographic characteristics and investigate the motivational factors that influence visitors’ frequency of visits, a face-to-face questionnaire survey was implemented at Dalarna Museum. To get visitors’ demographic characteristics, a few closed and open questions are devised to profile visitors’ gender, age, occupation, income, education, number of children and residence place. To investigate the motivational factors that influence visitors’ frequency of visits, a seven-point Likert questionnaire is employed with 17 motivational factors included. During a 12-day data collection, 372 visitors were invited to participate in the questionnaire survey, whereof 357 had filled in the questionnaire, generating a response rate that is as high as 96 percent. After data cleansing, there are 355 completed and valid responses in total. According to the results, some of visitors’ demographic characteristics are similar including gender, age, occupation, income, and number of children. However, the characteristics regarding visitors’ residence places and educational attainments are different comparing the frequent visitors to occasional visitors. Through running a multiple regression analysis, 13 out of the 17 motivational factors are detected having significant influences on visitors’ frequency of visits to Dalarna Museum, of which the most influential one is visitors’ day-outs with their friends and relatives.

Dichlorvos exposure impedes extraction and amplification of DNA from insects in museum collections

Background: The insecticides dichlorvos, paradichlorobenzene and naphthalene have been commonly used to eradicate pest insects from natural history collections. However, it is not known how these chemicals affect the DNA of the specimens in the collections. We thus tested the effect of dichlorvos, paradichlorobenzene and naphthalene on DNA of insects (Musca domestica) by extracting and amplifying DNA from specimens exposed to insecticides in two different concentrations over increasing time intervals. Results: The results clearly show that dichlorvos impedes both extraction and amplification of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA after relatively short time, whereas paradichlorobenzene and naphthalene do not. Conclusion: Collections treated with paradichlorobenzene and naphthalene, are better preserved concerning DNA, than those treated with dichlorvos. Non toxic pest control methods should, however, be preferred due to physical damage of specimens and putative health risks by chemicals.

Re-imagining the museum: beyond the mausoleum

Through a range of case- studies, including studies from the UK, North America and Australia, this book moves away from the idea that museums are always "conservative" to suggest they have a long history of engaging with popular culture and addressing a variety of audiences. Andrea Whitcomb argues that museums are key mediators between high and popular culture and between government, media practitioners, cultural policy-makers and museums professionals. The book also analyses links between museums and the media, looks at the role of museums in cities and discusses the effects on museums of cultural policies.

Museum and performing arts marketing: the age of discovery

Trends in museum and performing arts marketing from 1975 to 1994 were analyzed and suggested that a third period was emerging; the data in this article confirm that claim. Among the latest arts marketing articles, there is a significantly greater focus on marketing strategy than on the other two categories--marketing as culture and marketing as tactics.

Consumer satisfaction and post-purchase intentions: an exploratory study of museum visitors

This paper examines the relationship between consumer satisfaction and subsequent intentions in the museum context, as well as the moderating influence of demographic characteristics such as gender, age and education in that relationship. The relationship between satisfaction and a range of service elements, overall satisfaction with the experience and intentions was investigated. Museum marketers can profit by examining the "value chain" of museum experience outlined in the model presented, especially the greater likelihood of consumers recommending the experience to others than making a repeat visit themselves, and by investigating segment differences beyond those reported here.

Four by two theory of non-profit museum governance

As plainly illustrated by the collapse of Enron in the US and HIH in Australia, the world of organisational governance is complicated. In response to ongoing trustee tensions, legislative reforms have been adapted to encourage organisational performance. However, limited theoretical foundation exists regarding how trustee dynamics are forced to adjust within non-profit museums. The trustee’s world requires insights from different mindsets to be synthesised into a whole. The purpose of this article is to examine the research conducted on governance and apply it to the non-profit museum. The article contends that most research on governance has been conducted in the for-profit arena, with little robust empirical research having been conducted on non-profit governance. It identifies concerns with the thrust of articles published as they restrict new theory development. The article provides a four by two theory of non-profit museum governance, that is characterised by close interaction with the research published and application to the non-profit museum. It concludes by demonstrating the increased performance opportunity of a model to the non-profit museum seeking to be accountable in an increasingly complex and demanding environment.

Villages that never were : the museum village as a heritage genre

Villages of relocated buildings now constitute a phenomenon of the world's repertoire of heritage. They go by a multitude of names depending on particular inflection: open air museum, folk museum, living history museum, heritage village, museum village and so forth. 1 This paper reviews the context of the form of the genre's manifestation in Australia, where it is often known as the `pioneer village'. They are the fruit of a populist vision of national history which celebrates white rural settlement as its central theme. In practice, the villages manifest a deep commitment to collecting and saving old buildings as the meaningful construction of a favourite historical identity. But the generation that established Australia's villages has been overtaken. Today, the intersection of museum villages with the managerialist pressures of local economy enhancement and modern professional standards of heritage management challenge most villages' survival.

Capturing the intangible: holocaust survivor testimonies held in the Jewish holocaust museum and research centre, Melbourne

This paper provides an analysis of aspects of a significant videotestimony project that raises and discusses challenging issues about the factors influencing the telling of Holocaust testimonies and about the messages conveyed through those testimonies. It sets research questions which specifically look at the nature and role of video testimonies, including comparisons to non-video forms of oral history, and argues for what is 'new, different and significant about video testimonies' of Holocaust survivors. The analysis focuses on the nature, structure, messages and experiences shared (and those silenced) through the testimonies. In particular, it argues for the significance of video testimonies as a new means of capturing intangible cultural heritage.

Consumer satisfaction and post-purchase intentions: an exploratory study of museum visitors

This paper examines the relationship between consumer satisfaction and future intentions in the museum context, and the role that demographic characteristics such as gender, age and education play. The variables Expectations Met, Satisfaction, Value, Intention to Return, and Recommendation to Others, were all found to be correlated. However, although it is often assumed that the level of educational attainment, gender and age correlate strongly with arts and cultural usage, this research found that the only statistically significant differences were that females had a higher mean Intention to Return, and there was a weak positive association between Age and Satisfaction, and weak negative associations between Education and Expectations Met, Satisfaction, and Recommendation to Others. Museum marketers may profit from examining the "value chain" of museum experience outlined in the model presented, especially the greater likelihood of positive recommendations to others than individual intention to revisit, and by investigating segment differences beyond those reported here.